Every now and then, as I’m walking around in New York City, I might see something on the sidewalk or in the street that seems a lot more interesting than perhaps it should be. For example, the muffin wrapper that I thought looked like a flower back in September. If you look at the picture … Read more
When I was in NYC recently, walking around and enjoying a beautiful fall day, I ran into an old favorite place that I had forgotten about: Casa Magazines, a corner store at 8th Avenue and 12th Street that is only 400 square feet in size but is crammed full of over 2,500 different magazine titles! … Read more
I was in NYC last weekend and was walking around the West Village, when I happened upon The Old Yew Plant Shop on Horatio Street at 8th Avenue. They had a lot of cool plants, unusual varieties, but then I noticed what looked like a collection of little brains, and I was intrigued – I’d … Read more
It was a busy weekend of viewing art. First up was Art Fair 14C, taking place in Jersey City, which I visited on Saturday. The show had 80 exhibition booths, with exhibitors including art galleries, arts organizations and individual artists. I saw some really great art, some mediocre art, and some which didn’t interest me … Read more
I saw this needlepoint deer art in an antiques store in Asbury Park, NJ – it kind of has an appearance of stained glass, don’t you think? The tag listed it as “Judaica Art,” which can be defined as ” … things pertaining to Jewish life and customs, especially when of a historical, literary, or … Read more
I saw this unusual mirror at an antiques store south of Cooperstown, NY, and have to admit, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I’m not sure how well you can tell from the picture above, but it has a depth (off the surface of the wall) of approximately 4 or 5 inches, so it … Read more
I could go into any number of antiques stores and find weird, strange, and bad paintings, but every once in a while I’ll see something really good, which then begs the question: what’s the story behind this painting and the artist? I happened upon this painting in an antiques store just north of Poughkeepsie (which … Read more
This blog post is a continuation of my previous post titled “A road trip with no end destination in mind,” in which I hopped in my car and headed north along 9W and the Hudson River, looking for new places to explore. I left the story at the point where I was in Haverstraw, NY, … Read more
I took a day trip up to Poughkeepsie, NY, over the weekend, as a continuation of my exploration of Hudson River towns and the Hudson Valley in New York State. I had never been to Poughkeepsie before, so I was curious to check it out. As I pulled into town, my GPS sent me in … Read more
I have a funny story about mistaken identity and fan mail, back when I lived in New York City in the 1990s. I was working at Pace Gallery and lived downtown, near Wall Street. I was doing as much painting as I had time for after my “day job,” and it was the tail end … Read more